THE DESTRUCTION OF PUNKRI BURWADIH MEGALITHS IS ONLY MATTER OF TIME

Please left click on the photographs to get a larger image

PLATE 1.  CONSTRUCTION OF THIS UGLY BUILDING AND THE PARKING OF COAL CARTING DUMPERS AT SUCH CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE MEGALITHIC SITE (visible at the right of the trucks) IS INDEED A THREAT TO THE SITE'S VERY EXISTENCE

Describing the mesmerising beauty of the Punkri Burwadih megalithic complex and its surroundings in one of  my earlier books I had then written, "...heaven should be somewhat identical." 

But since the arrival of coal mining agencies like NTPC and CCL, this beauty is now completely lost due to coal mining and its transportation initiated by NTPC and CCL. Furthermore NTPC has taken the lands and homes of the villagers who have erected dhabas and their homes on the field around the megaliths. 

             Plate 2.The eye sore of the sub-station of NTPC is not only disturbing the aesthetics of the prehistoric megalithic complex but is also obstructing the stunning alignments of the stones to the encircling hills.

 Plate 3. The newly emerged entrance to the megaliths. Is this what the entrance of the world famous megaliths of Punkri Buirwadfih be? Are the Hazaribagh District Administration and the Archaeology Depts perceiving this ?

NTPC has come up with an eye sore of a sub-station very near to the ancient monument (Plate 2). The erection of this substation and the ruination of the hills in the horizon are decimating the aesthetics of the ancient megalithic site and are also obstructing the precise stunning alignments of the prehistoric stones to the peaks and notches of the encircling hill range created by the prehistoric megalithic astronomers, forever. 
The trucks carting coal are now parking their trucks and dumpers in the field around the megaliths. 

All these are posing great threat to the very existence of the country's most eminent prehistoric megalithic complex of Punkri Burwadih. (Just compare the present-day irksome photograph of Plate 1 with that of Plate 4 that demonstrates the obliteration of the serene environment of the megaliths prior to the coming of NTPC and CCL in the vicinity.)

PLATE 4. Punkri Burwadih megaliths. The beauty the site once was prior to the arrival of NTPC and CCL.

Coal mining and its transportation has also destroyed the fascinating stretch of the highway between Hazaribagh and Punkri Burwadih and given way to broken and dusty roads. This area which was akin to paradise has become filthy and dusty like a coal mining town (compare the two plates of 5 & 6). Pollution has become rampant in the region.

Plate 5. The photograph illustrates the beauty of the highway from Hazaribagh to Punkri Burwadih megaliths that is now lost with the arrival of the coal mining agencies.

Plate 6. The present day condition of the once beautiful highway between Punkri Burwadih and Hazaribagh which is now a living hell as a result of coal transportation by heavy trucks.

             

Coal mining is a threat not only to the amazing megaliths of Punkri Burwadih but to the numerous primitive rock art sites, the Sohrai villages, the environment, the flora and fauna and even to the elephants. The felling of the trees is obliterating the elephant corridors and as a consequence these large animals are constantly attacking the villages in the region.